Beta
by StoryReader888
Summary: Namori Hisoka is forced into going to Wal*Mart with the boys of Seigaku. She decides to treat herself to a wonderful "gift" for her birthday.


**Title**: Beta

**Character(s)**: Kunimitsu Tezuka & the Seigaku Regulars

**Anime**: Prince of Tennis

**This Fic Contains the Following**:

Explicit Language.

Comments that may be offensive to some viewers.

An Original Character in Third Person.

**Author's Notes**: So, I decided to write this as a present to myself for my birthday on the 24th. I'm finally 18, so I decided a good fic would be just what I needed. And what else but Prince of Tennis? Anyway, this actually happened, and I am now the proud owner of _Tezubeta_, a blue, red and purple Beta Fish with a pure white strip. By the way, I didn't realize until after this was finished that Beta actually had TWO T's, being spelled BeTTa... oh well~

* * *

Namori Hisoka.

Strong. Brave. Out-Spoken. Reckless. Stubborn. Impatient. Easily Annoyed. Ru - Well, you get the picture. If I had to compare her to someone, it'd be Kaoru Kaidoh of Seigaku. She shows nothing but this... _annoyed_, loner facade, but on the inside, she's actually pretty nice. It's hard to get close to her, and get past her inpenetrable fortress, but for those who have succeeded, they are rewarded with a loyal and caring friend. But, as I said, that's nearly an impossible thing to do. It's rare for her to attach herself to someone, but when she does, she never lets go.

Eiji Kikumaru, Takeshi Momoshiro, and Shusuke Fuji were three of those people. Which brings me to their current situation...

**۵ ۵ ۵**

One thing Namori hated was shopping. And that wasn't limited to just clothes shopping, either.

Shoe Shopping.

Book Shopping.

Movie Shopping.

Brain Shopping (for Momo).

Grocery Shopping.

It didn't matter. She hated it all.

Which is why she couldn't come up with a suitable excuse as to why her and the afore mentioned boys were currently in Wal*Mart, looking through their pet section.

She could claim that she did it out of boredom.

She could claim that she wanted to do something different for a change.

She could claim that she secretly liked shopping.

Or hell, she could even claim that she just loved Wal*Mart.

But those were all lies. The truth, however, was too damaging to both her pride and nerves. She would never, **never**, ever ever _ever_, admit that she had caved to Kikumaru's "Kiku-Cat Pout", which was about twenty times more powerful than the ever popular puppy pout. No, she'd never admit that. Not even to herself.

Namori didn't know why the three wanted her to come along, but she did know why they were at Wal*Mart. Momo had found a small kitten on the street the day before, and after some serious begging, his mother agreed to let him keep the orange tabby. Being excited as he was, he had invited the whole of Seigaku (and Namori) to go pet shopping with him, so he could get food and all the other supplies he would need.

Ryoma Echizen was first, of course. He blatantly refused and hung up on his senpai.

Eiji Kikumaru was next. He agreed the second the words left Momo's lips.

Shuichiro Oishi. He was busy helping out his uncle at the clinic, and apologized before getting off the line.

Kaoru Kaidoh... was completely skipped over (lucky bastard).

Takashi Kawamura. He was busy helping his dad out around the Sushi Restraunt. Apparantly, they were pretty busy today.

Sadaharu Inui. He was angry because Momo interrupted _'important research'_ on his new drink. He even threatened to make Momo his guinea pig. Momo abruptly hung up the phone.

Shusuke Fuji. He had nothing to do, and agreed.

Kunimitsu Tezuka. Momo didn't even get to finish his sentence before his Buchou hung up the phone (he's a cold Tezzy...)

Namori Hisoka. She acted alot like Ryoma, hanging up the phone after giving him an abrupt and firm _**No**_. But that didn't stop them from showing up at her door and, well, you know the rest.

Momo stood infront of the vast selection of cat food (okay, maybe not _vast_, but close enough), stressing over which food would be the best for the small animal. It was still just a kitten, and he knew he had to be careful about what he bought for it - _him_.

"Which am I supposed to get? Eiji-senpai? Fuji-senpai? Namori-senpai?"

Eiji _hmm_-ed, placing his hand on his chin in thought, the other arm across his chest. His blue eyes scanned the shelves of food before reaching forward and grabbing the first bag that caught his interest. He held the medium sized bag up and grinned.

Shusuke chuckled.

Namori deadpanned.

Momo sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his black locks. "E-Eiji-senpai... that's dog food..."

"Eh?" Eiji blinked, turning the bag around in his outstretched hands so he could read the front. DOG FOOD was written in bold white letters on the front. "Eh? I thought this was the cat isle!"

"Wal*Mart is a multi-purpose store. They have too many items to give cats and dogs their own isle," Shusuke stated, smiling his usual _Fuji-eske_ smile.

Eiji pouted at the bag, setting it back on the shelf half-heartedly.

Shusuke cocked his head to the side. "Saa, let's see. This," he picked up a colorful bag claiming to be for kittens and handed it to Momo. "That should be the correct food."

"_'Should be'_? Are you sure, Fuji-senpai?"

"Well," his smile dropped and he held a hand to his chin. "That's the only kitten food they have here..."

"Shouldn't you go to Petsmart or Petco for this?" Namori asked boredly, rubbing the back of her head. Wal*Mart was **not** the place to go when you just got a pet.

"Maybe Mori-chan is right," Eiji was the _only _one who called her that. And it annoyed the crap out of her. But did he listen? Of course not.

"But Petsmart is expensive!" Momo complained. "I'm on a budget here!"

"Petco?"

"Petco is even more expensive!"

While the three boys pondered their situations (numbskulls), Namori headed over to the isle behind them, where the fish tanks were. She was getting bored and annoyed, and decided to walk around looking at whatever crossed her path, to calm her ever raging temper. It always did the trick, for some reason.

She passed the tanks and was about to pass the sink when she froze. It was like some invisible force whispering in her ear, telling her to look over. Being someone who strongly believed in following your gut, she looked over. Above the sink was a small shelf, lined with several small round containers. Each container held a Beta Fish, each varying in color, but were all about the same size.

She knew from experience that Beta's had to be kept seperate from other fish, including their own kind. They were loner fish, and hated to be together with other fish. It was very rare to find one that got along with others. Other than the loner trait, they were truely beautiful fish. They came in ranges of colors, some were blues and reds with touches of purple, some were orange and a goldish type color. They shimmered like glitter, with tails and fins that looked like silk. They were probably the most beautiful type of fish out there.

When Namori was younger, she used to have many Beta's, they were her favorite type of fish, and easy to take care of. Best of all, they didn't give you headaches or make messes or destroy anything like cats and dogs tended to do. They only bad thing about these fish, was that they didn't live long. Even if you take care of them, their life is just naturally short. In the words of Reborn, "Fate dictates that they be taken away from us early."

Of course, he was talking about the Sky Arcobaleno when he said that, but it still goes along with my point.

Namori walked over, her fingers brushing the containers. It felt like someone had a hold on her wrist, guiding it towards one of the containers in the front. Inside was a male Beta, shimmering with blues, reds, and purples, a small white streak standing out among them. It may very well be the most beautiful Beta she'd ever seen. She gently grabbed the container, so as not to scare the little one, and brought it up to examine him closer. She didn't understand why, but something was telling her to get this fish. And she knew, if she didn't listen to her gut, she'd end up regretting it later. She always did.

Setting the fish down in a safe place, she examined the fish tanks and and ornaments that they had. She wanted a big one, but not a huge one meant for many fish. She also wanted it to have a light, and a filter. Once she found the perfect one, she proceeded to grab a couple bags of blue and white stones, a sign that said BEWARE OF JAWS!, and a pirate skull cave complete with a black electric eel swimming from the eye (god, she was morbid).

Most people would question how she managed to carry all of that stuff without dropping anything or jostling the skittish fish. Once Momo returned with a buggy (which she had ordered him to go get), she set the things down. Shusuke raised an eyebrow in question, but didn't voice it.

**۵ ۵ ۵**

Two hours later (more like twenty minutes, actually), the group paid for the items and left the store.

Namori stared at the multi-colored fish as he swam around in his new tank. It was obvious that he was in a state of shock. For one, Beta's are never too happy with being moved around. Secondly, the bowl he had been in was small, confined, and safe. The tank he was currently in was much larger in size, with rocks and other small ornaments that he wasn't used to having. She always found it annoying the way people bought teeny tiney little tanks for Beta's to live in, without any decoration. What's the point of having the damn thing?

She wanted to feed him, but knew better; he was too shaken up at the moment, and probably wouldn't touch the food. And, since Beta's vary, she bought both the pellets and the flakes. From her experience, every Beta she's ever had preferred the flakes, but the professionals always say they prefer the pellets. But, what do professionals _really _know? Or maybe she just always got the weird of the litter.

Whatever. It didn't really matter.

As she stared at the fish, she started to wonder what she should name him. She may not be able to take him out and pet him, or preform tricks with him, whatever, but he was _still_ a pet, even if you could only look at him (even though that _was_ quite calming), and he deserved a name. But, with so many names floating around out there, she had no clue what to call him. It had to be something with meaning, but nothing stupid like "Spot" or "Sam" (the fuck kind of name is _Sam_ for a freakin' **fish**?)

"Ah!"

It was like a light bulb lit up over her head. She had thought of the perfect name!

Her lips curled up into a smirk, and she gently set her finger on the side of the tank so she didn't scare him. She couldn't wait to introduce the little guy to the team tomorrow.

**۵ ۵ ۵**

Since Namori didn't want to move the fish around while he was adjusting, she invited the gang over to her house (something which both excited and scared them - she rarely ever did that). With a single hand, she beconed them upstairs to her bedroom, where the fish tank lay on her desk, away from the window (sunlight is damaging to Beta's).

"Is that the fish you bought the other day?" Shusuke smiled, cocking his head to the side as he admired it.

"Aa. It's an early birthday present for myself,"

Shusuke nodded without looking at her, leaning down to inspect the tank. He seemed genuinely interested.

"Have you named it yet?" Shuichiro asked softly, leaning down beside Shusuke to get a better look. The shimmering scales and graceful dance brought a smile to his face, just as it had done with Shusuke (or maybe that was the five minutes of ballet he had taken to fool Ryuzaki-sensei... The world may never know).

"It's male," she paused. "And yeah. The name came to me last night."

Everyone turned to look at her, thinking she was going to continue and mention the name. But she stayed silent, staring stoicly at the tank. The silence and stares continued until, finally, Momo and Eiji exploded.

"Well?"

"Well what?" she blinked, looking up at the pair. She looked as if she had just snapped out of a trance.

Shusuke bit back a chuckle at the suspense and imaptience hanging over his two teammates. "What name did you decide to go with?"

"Oh!" she returned her attention to the fish, shrugging. "Tezubeta,"

"..."

Silence.

Everyone stared at her, curiously, wondering if she was going to say that she was joking. But she had returned to her trance, her face and eyes showing no hint of a joke or a lie. She had truely named her fish _Tezubeta_.

"Is that... named after Tezuka?" Oishi glanced at the captain before looking back to her.

"Yep,"

"Not questioning you or anything, senpai, but... why'd you name him after the buchou?" Momo asked, glancing at the stoic male, who had not changed his expression.

"That _was_ questioning me," she pointed out. "But I figure, if you're gonna name something you care about, it should be after something or some_one_ that means alot to you. Tezuka would be that person. He's always been like family to me. So, yeah."

The team didn't know how to react. Afterall, Namori had never actually confessed to caring about someone before. And here she was, showing her house, her _bedroom_, to the team, all the while confessing that she viewed Kunimitsu Tezuka as family. They had to wonder if she was sick...

Or drunk...

Or maybe even high...

Was it opposite day?

Tezuka pushed his glasses up and walked towards her, resting his hand on her shoulder. Still, his expression did not change.

At first, he didn't say anything; he just looked at her. The team leaned closer, wondering what their buchou was going to say (or do). They inched closer with every passing minute, the suspense and tension growing in the small room. Why the hell did they feel the need to put them through this? They were only kids, for god's sake! They couldn't handle this kind of suspense!

Finally, Tezuka spoke.

"Don't let your guard down,"

The whole room, minus Kunimitsu and Namori, fell, sweatdrops appearing on the back of their heads. Even _Tezubeta_ fell.

Ah, if only his fins were long enough. He probably would of facepalmed, to.


End file.
